About

The Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM) is an institute of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) (Spanish National Research Council) founded in December 1986, that belongs to the Area of Science and Technology of Materials, one of the eight Areas in which the CSIC divides its research activities.

Our mission is to create new fundamental and applied knowledge in materials of high technological impact, their processing and their transfer to the productive sectors at local, national and European scales (the true value of materials is in their use), the training of new professionals, and the dissemination of the scientific knowledge.

Dual-Fiber Approach toward Flexible Multifunctional Hybrid Materials

Multifunctional paper-like materials containing metal oxide nanofibers are important for flexible electronics and other redox-based applications, but are often prone to mechanical failure. This work presents the coassembly of V2O5 nanofibers (VNFs) in a dual?fiber approach together with cellulose nanofibers to produce tough (0.26 MJ m−3), but strong (250 MPa) flexible hybrid materials. Indeed, nanotensile tests reveal a significant increase in toughness (200%) and strength (85%) of the hybrid films as compared to pristine VNF films. The microstructure of the films shows a transition from an anisotropic texture for the single-component films to an isotropic, entangled network in case of the hybrid films, which facilitates effective fracture resistance mechanisms. The flexible hybrid films display high electrical conductivity (0.2 S cm−1) and elastic properties originating from V2O5 nanofibers with excellent toughness and transparency endowed by the cellulose nanofibers. The self-supported hybrid films show reversible electrochromic behavior without the need for common substrates such as conducting indium tin oxide glass. It is conceivable that these self-supported films can be exploited in the future in smart, flexible optoelectronic devices.